


Lunch Hour

by teamchaosprez



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Emotional Baggage, F/F, First Kiss, Friendship/Love, Post-Break Up, Rebound Relationship, Skipping Class, Trans Female Character, slightly unhealthy relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-11-01 07:19:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10917033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teamchaosprez/pseuds/teamchaosprez
Summary: Pearl is pretty torn up about her breakup with Rose. Amethyst tries to help her through it.





	Lunch Hour

**Author's Note:**

> okaaayyyy soooo i've had this idea for MONTHS now and i finally wrote it out and idk how i feel about it honestly

High school lunchrooms were, in Pearl Suzuki’s humble opinion, the worst type of place on the planet. You could see everyone from any given spot, you could look around, feel the true crushing weight of loneliness even if you were sandwiched quite comfortably between one girl twice your weight and another quite possibly twice your height, another with both those features chattering away across from you. You could feel the anxiety that came with being close to the principal’s office and you were, essentially, trapped in an enclosed space with anywhere from a hundred to a thousand smelly teenagers, some fresh out of their physical education period and others just generally terrible with any sort of personal hygiene. Added to that was the constant threat that somebody would approach her without reason and ask her all sorts of personal opinion pertaining to why she wore dresses and what was between her legs or a little bit of both.

Pearl hated every moment of her lunch periods, for more reasons than just (as Amethyst often accused her) wanting to be in class and learning more.

Worse than anything else, though, was the fact that there was a fifth member of their group that should have been at the table but was missing. A girl whose gentle voice and beautiful laugh made the entire debacle of suffering through this trap of a half hour worth it. A girl who could ward off any unwanted attention focused Pearl’s way with a simple look of disappointment that could make most feel like they were being scolded by their mother. A girl who, since the very first day of kindergarten when they met and stood up to the bully Diamond sisters together, Pearl had been endlessly, achingly in love with, as much as she tried to be quiet about it.

She could see her from where she sat, just a table away from them. Her back was facing Pearl, but she could see the way her shoulders shook and her curls bounced when she laughed. She could imagine her dark eyes lighting up with amusement and her plump lips curled up into a bright smile, and she could almost hear the delightful sound of her laughter despite Amethyst and Bismuth being in the middle of a rather heated argument about whether or not the captain of the swim team could  _ possibly _ be dating the leader of the robotics club. Unfortunately, there was the very real fact that Greg Universe’s arm was thrown rather casually around Rose Quartz’s shoulder keeping her from doing anything.

“You’re staring again, Pierogi,” was a simple declaration that broke her out of her thoughts, making her jump and the pale skin of her cheeks heat up in a thick blush. Amethyst was watching her with violet eyes that would look amused to most, but that had a layer of concern hidden far beneath the surface. “Careful, you’re going to look like a crazy ex girlfriend from a horror movie.” Her words were joking, but her tone was cautious, as if afraid that she would break down with the accusation.

Pearl was almost insulted by that. She wasn’t a fragile bird like her friends seemed to assume that she was. She just… lacked the confidence she had when she was dating Rose.

“I am  _ not _ staring, I’m just thinking,” the valedictorian responded in a tone that was almost depressingly defensive, something that gave her away rather easily. “I told you, Amethyst, I’m over it, and I’m happy as long as she’s happy. I feel like you’re more obsessed with my feelings for Rose than I am!” A nervous laugh left her then, and Pearl could  _ feel _ the blush on her face spreading.

“Listen, Pearly, your salt was funny at first, but it’s starting to worry everybody,” Bismuth commented, raising an eyebrow at the thin girl, and Pearl couldn’t help but shrink in on herself a little. The muscular girl usually minded her own business and opted for making jokes, so when she felt the need to get serious and bring up somebody else’s behavior, odds were it was important. “I understand that Rose has been real important to you, and I get that she was your first love and everything, but you’re a  _ little _ bit obsessed… and no offense, but she wasn’t really that good for you.”

Pearl couldn’t help but grimace a little at Bismuth’s frank analysis, turning her attention to the disgusting cafeteria food that she hadn’t bothered to eat and Amethyst (miraculously) hadn’t bothered to steal, poking at the sorry excuse for mashed potatoes and gravy and trying to avoid making eye contact with any of her three friends. Garnet placed a hand on her shoulder, and she jumped a little bit, blue eyes glancing up at her tall friend with a small frown on her face.

“You haven’t been eating. You stare at her at every chance you get. You’ve been a lot more withdrawn than usual, and you’ve been a lot more bitter, too.” She spoke in a matter of fact tone, and if Pearl could see through her deeply shaded sunglasses she was sure that she wouldn’t particularly like what she would see. “You’re worrying all of us. We aren’t going to push you for anything, but you just need to know that you’re allowed to talk to us about anything.” Her voice was calm and reasonable enough that Pearl immediately began to feel guilty, for being a terrible friend and letting her own heartbreak change how she acted around her friends.

She was wounded, though, and instead of continuing to feel guilty, she instead began to feel  _ angry _ that her friends were  _ daring _ to guilt her for being heartbroken and acting accordingly. Face burning, the teenager quickly rose to her feet, completely abandoning her untouched lunch in order to storm out of the cafeteria and find somewhere else to hide.

It didn’t go beyond her vision, however, when Rose watched her leave the massive room, and that only served to make her feel worse.

* * *

 

Pearl had never dared to be late for class in her life. She valued education more than almost anything else, she felt the need to excel in school and get the best grades possible. She was on her way to being the valedictorian, and that was one of the things she prided herself on more than anything else; she could balance schoolwork and ballet effortlessly and excelled in the both to the envy of some others. She was punctual, she was smart, she worked hard.

Today, however, she allowed herself to slip, and did something that was unimaginable for her - she skipped class in favor of hiding in an unused classroom at the far end of the school.

The only person that she really knew well that she shared the class immediately after lunch with was Amethyst, and she was sure that no judgement would pass between them because of this. Amethyst skipped school more than anyone else she had ever met in her life, and it would be downright hypocritical for her to say anything negative about Pearl skipping. 

What she failed to consider was that her missing a class was more concerning than anything else; she didn’t really think to believe that Amethyst would show concern for her over that.

The door opened about twenty minutes into what would be the class period, and Pearl looked up from where she sat against a far wall, startled and afraid of getting in trouble as her eyes adjusted to the sudden bright light that flooded into the dark room. It didn’t take her very long to recognize the short and heavy physique of her close friend, and the ballerina relaxed rather quickly as Amethyst closed the door, approached her, and slowly sat to her side; they remained in silence for a couple of minutes before the younger of the two spoke up.

“We’re probably not really understanding everything you’re going through, but you can’t just hide from all of us, you know?” Amethyst blurted out, and Pearl knew that she struggled with communicating complicated things sometimes so she wasn’t going to criticize her. “Bis and Garnet and I care about you, and I’m at least ninety percent sure that Rose and Greg too. We wanna  _ help. _ But we can’t really do anything to make you feel better if you refuse to open up and let us.”

Pearl hesitated, tracing patterns on the cheap carpet of the floor and avoiding making eye contact with her friend, lips pulled down into a frown and knees hugged to her chest with one long arm. Amethyst rested a hand against her shoulder, and the taller of the two was tempted to pull away but instead allowed the physical contact to continue. She sighed heavily, resting her head back against the edge of a desk behind them, and hesitated before she decided to actually speak up, spilling everything that she had been feeling for the first time since Rose broke up with her in favor of Greg.

“I’m just so  _ hurt. _ I’ve never been this hurt before. Rose was my first friend when we were little kids. She was the first one I came out to when I realized I was a gay girl instead of a straight boy, and she defended me from my parents when I came out to them and they turned on me. She was the first girl I ever really fell in love with, and I really thought that we were going to last forever, but she decided that she wanted to date some boy in a garage band with no future in front of him instead.” Miserable, she covered her face in her hands and took a shaking breath. “I always knew she was poly, and she always told me before she had relationships with other people while dating me, and I was always okay with it because they  _ never _ lasted long. But this one… she’s really into him, Amethyst, and she  _ broke up with me _ because she wants to be with him  _ forever. _ And I don’t know. I guess I’m just… worried that she was faking her feelings for me. Using me. And I’m scared she ended things with me because my baggage just became too much for her with all the dysphoria and family issues and mental illness.”

Amethyst listened to her quietly, more attentively than Pearl could remember her listening in recent memory. Once she finished talking, though, the shorter girl scoffed instead of saying something sentimental, and although Pearl should have known that was coming she couldn’t help but be hurt. “That is complete bullshit, P, and I think deep down you know it. Rose still cares about you, just as a friend, not as a girlfriend. Yeah, she hurt you pretty bad, but she didn’t break up with you because you did something  _ wrong. _ She broke up with you because her feelings changed.”

Logically, Pearl knew that was correct, but that didn’t make it feel like any less of a punch to the gut. It hurt that Rose no longer felt the same way about her, probably even more than it would hurt if it was a mistake on her part that ended their years long relationship. Miserably, the tall student sniffled, pulling her knees back up to her chest and staring at the dirty carpet of the classroom, quietly pondering how she could possibly  _ stop _ hurting for the sake of letting her friends breathe.

Drowning the feelings underneath something else would probably help, right?

Without really thinking about it, the student did something she never imagined she would do - she turned to the side and pressed her lips against Amethyst’s. She could tell that the younger girl was taken by surprise, as she tensed up and only after a moment did her own soft lips move in order to keep up with the kiss. It was probably the most steamy and genuine contact that Pearl had experienced in a few months, and that was enough to  _ really _ make it hurt when Amethyst shoved at her shoulders and peeled her off - the paler of the two could tell that she was blushing deeply, and her younger friend’s face was about the same shade of red.

“I don’t -” she began to say, the blush spreading to her ears. “I don’t want to be your rebound, P, as much as I like you.” And Pearl  _ understood _ that, but at the same time, she was already addicted to the feeling that she got from kissing Amethyst, she was already able to push the issue of Rose at least a  _ little bit _ farther back into her mind, and even though she knew it wasn’t healthy for either of them for her to suddenly be emotionally dependent on another relationship…

She didn’t care. She wanted more.

“You’re not,” she responded breathlessly, not really sure if she was lying or being honest - but Amethyst seemed to take that at face value, and nodded.

Before either of them could say anything more, though, the bell rung above them, and Pearl really couldn’t bring herself to miss another class. Amethyst rose to her feet before she did and extended a hand to help her up, and the taller student took it with a smile, getting up and leaving the abandoned classroom hand in hand with Amethyst.

Pearl could survive that day feeling just a little bit lighter.

**Author's Note:**

> if you enjoyed feel free to comment!


End file.
